Serene and the rest had no real idea what they would find if they explored the base of the tree, but they never thought they would find what they did. About halfway around the tree, facing the old road that snaked through the forest, they found a large wooden door in a gap between the giant roots of the tree. They stared at the anomaly with gaping mouths; even Serene fell silent. The door was featureless and closed off to outsiders, showing how big the door was in comparison to them. Serene tentatively stepped forward and fell flat on her face. “Ow… does this normally happen when we exhaust our mana? It feels like everything’s out of whack.” she grumbled.

Clamor kneeled down and helped his sister to her feet. “I’ve heard about mana exhaustion showing itself in different ways, but honestly, I feel really strong. Though, I am having a bit of trouble keeping balance.” he agreed. “But sis, what the hell did we do? We just grew a giant tree, sure, but what does that mean? I think that I can say for everyone here that we all feel strange after doing… whatever that was.” he declared. His words inspired a low murmur of agreement from the rest of the elves.

She crossed her arms and stared at the group of elves. “We did something amazing! Think about it! We just grew a giant magical tree to look like this! I mean, it’s bigger than a fair few skyscrapers!” she cried. Her speech inspired a wave of confusion from the small gathering.

“Wait, it looks tiny! Thick, sure, but tiny!” one woman shouted.

Everyone else looked at the woman as if she were crazy. “What are you on about?” one dark skinned man demanded. “That thing is huge! Maybe not as big as a skyscraper, but bigger than a few apartment complexes stacked on top of each other.” After the man stated his estimation, the group devolved into chaos. Everyone argued with each other about the real size of the giant tree.

Clamor was about to shout at them to quiet down before any monsters heard them, but stopped when he looked at the trees around them. “Guys, quiet down!” he yelled, getting everyone’s attention. “Is it just me, or do the trees look alot… smaller?” he asked. The group looked at the trees around them and were taken aback: the trees that seemed to be able to devour them before now looked small. They began to wonder if, somehow, their perspectives had been changed on the world around them.

Before any of them could mention their thoughts, the giant wooden door swung open with a dull creak. They instantly turned to peer into the darkness of the tree, which began to brighten from an odd glow coming from the bark on the walls. “Alright!” Serene yelled, grabbing their attention. “This is an invitation if I’ve ever seen one. We can argue about perspectives later, but for now we have a tree to explore!” she cheered, marching into the tree with the rest cautiously following her.

They treaded carefully, through the corridors and hallways of the tree. The walls, floors, and roofs were all made of bark-covered wood, which was softer to the touch than they initially assumed. They learned along the way that most of the tree’s roots were not illuminated, as there were plenty of offshoot paths and branching hallways that were veiled in darkness. After a few minutes of walking, ignoring the darker paths, and following the pale glow, they reached what seemed to be their destination.

They found a circular room that was well lit, tall, and furnished. There were exactly 31 chairs surrounding a wooden, circular table that dominated the room. The table was 30 feet in diameter, not glowing like the walls of the room, and with chairs evenly spaced out around the closer side of the table, which did not grant an excessive amount of room, but did not entirely crowd them either. What stole their attention, however, was not the table, the chairs, or the brightness; what stole their attention was the giant figure that loomed over the far side of the room. Sitting in a large wooden throne, a massive 15 foot tall humanoid figure made of tangled roots and bark gazed at them. The group was entirely frozen with fear when the figure spoke to them. Its voice was not that of a human’s, nor was it that of an animal: it sounded like the dull, low creaking of wood that had been made to vaguely sound like human speech to the trained ear. “Ah… come in. You must be… tired… from your hard work earlier.” it invited, speaking in a slow and measured tone.

The group was utterly stunned at the development, and none but Serene were able to reply. “Who… are you?” she asked in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

The figure lightly chuckled at her question, which did nothing to help the group’s high-strung nerves. “Hmm…” it pondered. “You could call me by… many names. I heard one of you call me… Yggdrasil. It is a… beautiful name, but not my own. I have no name… none yet, anyway. You all could also call me… your children… which I would not be against.” the figure finally said, stunning the group.

This time, Clamor was the first to regain their senses. “Wait, so we made you? Was that what we did when we pumped mana into the tree?” he asked. The rest of the group snapped out of their confusion at his question, most slightly nodding to affirm their curiosity.

“Yes… that is what you did… to me. Before that… I ask that you sit and rest. There are… many… things that have changed. You need rest to… properly… adjust.” it offered in the same tone. The group breathed a deep breath and slowly sat down across from the creature. Once they had all sat down, the creature spoke again. “Here… you must be hungry.” it said. Without any prompting, the wood of the table sprouted small branches in front of all of the guests. On the end of the branches, an apple rapidly grew. As they grew, it became immediately clear that the color of the apples was not red, green, or even blue, but a swirling rainbow that spread across the surface of the apples. The figure tilted its head a small bit. “That is odd… I do not… remember making them look… like that.” it wondered. “Oh well… It is safe to eat… I assure you.” As it finished its statement, the rainbow apples finished growing, and fell to the table with a quiet thud.

Hearing the assurances of the bark covered figure did little to soothe the nerves of any of the elves present. Despite that, Serene shrugged and grabbed the apple, taking a bite. Clamor, who was sitting next to her, went wide-eyed with horror. He had no idea that she would be that reckless, and tried to take the apple. “Don’t eat that!” he hissed. “Who knows what that-”

“Ohh! This is good!” she asserted, grinning. “Come on guys, try it!” Seeing that she tried the apple, some of the other elves tentatively ate a bite of the multicolored apple in front of them. Once they ate a bite, they found it delicious, making them eat with greater vigor, causing others to try the apple as well. Soon enough, all of the elves were eating their apples while the figure loomed over them. They all finished their apples quickly, which left them sitting in the room with the bark covered figure looming over them. “Alright, are you willing to answer some of our questions?” Serene asked.

The figure nodded. “I am.” it said slowly.

“Hmm… so, how did we make you, anyway? All I remember was putting mana into… you, I guess, and then falling over.” she asked.

“How… you ask? I do not know. All I know is that… your type… connects with trees.” it answered.

“Wait, so we do connect with trees? How does it work?” she asked.

“Yes… you do… connect… with trees. As far as I know… you give certain trees… a part of your being.” it explained.

“Soul? I thought that we just gave you mana. Does that mean that we’ve lost memories!?” she cried, earning a light knock on the head from Clamor.

“Calm down, sis.” he pleaded. “Just hear it out first. Besides, I don’t think I’m missing anything.” he commented.

She snapped her eyes to him. “That’s the thing! If we forget it, then we won’t know it’s missing!” she yelled.

The figure made a noise that sounded a bit like coughing, getting the attention of the elves in the room. “No… it is not the.. inner part… of your being. It is the… excess parts, that which is shed. Your… mana, if I am not… mistaken… was enough to forge a… suitable… shell for my being. I have… studied… that which I have… learned from my growth. From what I have learned, I am… unique… compared to my… siblings. I believe that is why... you found me to be a… suitable specimen.” it further elaborated.

Jamis was the first to speak after the tree creature had finished. “So we made you by giving off excess parts of our being?” he asked, receiving a nod from the figure. “So if we did that, what else did we do?” he pondered. “If we, as elves, are able to give some unique trees sentience, there would be something else we have done, even if we don’t know what the purpose is yet.” he explained, receiving a wave of quiet affirmations from the rest of the crowd.

The figure slowly nodded in understanding. “In short… you… tied yourselves… to me.” it explained. Everyone in the room went silent in confusion.

Serene, who had calmed down, looked at the tree’s ‘face.’ “What does that mean? So, are we unable to leave? Are we subject to your every whim? Are you subject to ours?” she demanded.

The figure laughed, leaving the elves on edge. “Not exactly. Our relationship… is unlike… any other.” it began. “You are not bound… Neither am I… I believe that you were… arguing about my… body’s height. That is due to the… strengthening… that occurs in my… presence. You are filled with… mana… and become strengthened. There is… a limit. I do not know why… but I can only give… so much mana.” it waved its hand, showing blue roots that spread from the top of the tree, through the air, and into each of the elves. “You are strengthened by me… and I am strengthened… by you.” it concluded.

“And how’s that?” Serene countered. “What’s the catch?” she demanded.

“Good question.” it began. “I have learned a… troubling fact. It is… impossible… for me to survive… alone. I believe that the… purpose… of your type is to… create… sentient sanctuaries.” it concluded.

Serene pondered the assertion for a moment, but before she could reply, Clamor spoke. “I see how that works. If I’m correct, you need nutrients and mana from us, while you give us a boost through this mana connection and this home turf. Though, I do not know how both sides give mana. Is there something I’m missing?” he asked. Serene pondered for a moment, and agreed with his hypothesis.

“Close… but not quite. It is not… mana… I need… it is the… being… you exude. I am able to… produce it myself… but I am able to… grow faster… when those tied to me are… inhabiting… my roots and branches.” it explained. “So… what will you do? Will you stay… or will you leave?” it invited.

They all sat silently, pondering their options. They were lost on what to choose: it was either tying themselves to a sentient tree or leaving its safety to brave the monster-infested United States. They were coming no closer to a solution when a female voice spoke up. “Soo… we can leave at any time we want, right?” the voice asked. Everyone turned to see Serene staring at the head of the figure.

It nodded slowly. “Of course.” it replied

Serene sighed. “Then I’m in!”

Clamor went wide-eyed once more and laughed “Alright, I kinda have to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble.” he began.

“Hey!” she yelled indignantly.

“So I’m in.” he finished.

Jamis shouted out as well. “Me too. We followed her craziness here for some reason that still eludes me, but after all that, I’ll trust her.” he stated, smirking.

Then another voice shouted out. “Then I’m in.”

Then another. “Me too!”

Eventually, every one of the 31 elves decided to stay. The figure nodded. “Thank you… that means a great deal.” it said.

“Oh, by the way.” Serene interjected. “What should we call you? I mean, you said that you have no name, so is there something you want to be called?” she asked. “Oh! I know, how about smokey?”

Clamor gave another light knock on the back of the head while the rest of the elves laughed. “Come on, be nice. He’s a tree, so that’s mean.”

“Actually, I do not... burn... in fire. I can… if need be.” the figure stated.

“Oh, well that’s good to know.” Clamor said. “But what should we call you?”

“Hmm…” the figure muttered. “How about… Johnny?” it asked.

Serene smirked. “Let me guess, Johnny Appleseed?” she asked. Johnny nodded, inspiring the rest of the room to roar with laughter.

*=====*

Well, that was fun. Anyway, back to Kain and Luna’s adventures with evil moss next time. As always, thanks for the support, and I hope you enjoyed.